Jacques

Hi, Gimei 100%

Right, So, i think that because the yasurime (file marks) are not the same all along the nakago; they are kiri (horizontal) and below takanoha (hawk feather) and the patina of the upper part (up the nakago-ana ) is more clear than the bottom.

Hi, Darcy... oshigata is here RayE's blade seems to have been machi-okuri (kiri and takanoha yasurime) About yasurime takanoha is not in conformity with Mishina-ha but some smith in Morimichi-ha used them.

Hi, The best for comparison (and pleasure for the eyes). Both blades are juyo Bunkasai.

I think that this blade is gimei, look at the oshigata below and be attentive with the second and third kanji, they are differences in the chisel strokes.

Hi, There are several Morimichi; Morimichi ha worked both in Mino and Owari, smiths of this school are descended from the late Koto Smith Muromichi of the Seki Muroya ha. Two main families with parallel dévelopment each succeding to their own title: Sugura no kami fujiwara Morimichi (shodai, nidai, sandai) Musashi no kami fujiwara Morimichi (shodai nidai sandai) worked in sue-seki style. Darcy, it is not a eventuality, it is a fact, i have an oshigata of Suruga no kami Morimichi (nidai) wich reads Mishina Fujiwara Morimichi. source: Mino-tô

Hi, I'm not sure but it seems that Shinkai and Sukehiro worked together only for two blades, a katana and a wakizashi. The katana was made in Enpo 3 and was listed int he Bengi Oshigata: Concerning the waki Tanobe sensei (Token Bijutsu n° 606) says that:

Hi Patrick, The dealer says the same thing but he thinks that it could be the shodai, what do you think about that? I know that the nidai had made some mumei blades.

Hi, The second mei may be Kawachi no kami Hirotaka.

Hi Michel, No, i don't know why, but my old eyes are open to read your explanations. Tu pourrais mettre ça sur notre forum aussi :D

Hi, Looks like the Hashimoto family mon (real name of Hizen Tadayoshi lineage).

Hi, You can try with a cleaning gun brush 22 long rifle caliber (nylon and cotton only) i've used it for cleaning an old saya of a Kunishige blade.

Hi, Thank you Darcy, Just a little remark, :D i personnally don't find that the mei itself is so near the bottom of the nakago. :?

Hi, this blade seems to have a keicho shinto look, i don't think that it was suriage but perhaps machi-okuri; About the mei, if it is Yamashiro no kami Kunikiyo (hirokawa school) his mei is often low down on the nakago and ends near the nakago jiri (that i should like to see). Hada is not incompatible with this school one. In any case there is a good occasion to learn something :D

Hi, Yamashiro no kami Kunikiyo (frome Echizen) signed in tachi mei.

Darcy, Thanks for the commentary i'll be less ignorant when i'll go to bed this evening. Yes it's a yari (shinto yamato tegai mei Kawachi no kami Monju Kanesada) other pictures: For the pleasure, another Norishige, this one is kokuho :

Hi, May be Katsukuni from kaga :arrow:

Jean, All that say Tsuruta san is not my cup of tea concerning sue-bizen school, yes it is a late muromachi one (sue 末 means end). you can also read this : that come from: http://www.nihonto.ca/yosozaemon-sukesada/index.html

Hi, Jean, Sue-bizen swords are more in nie-deki and this fact will involve the disappearance of utsuri.

Is it Shinto though? I thought it looked Muromachi. I've never seen the Bishu Osafune Sukesada mei on a shinto blade (apart from gimei). The Tadakuni is superb, I have come close to buying it for a while now. I think that's the best deal on a Hizen sword anywhere on the net... Sukesada (real name Shichibei) was a descendant of Yosozaemon no jo Sukesada (16th century) he worked in Manji era (1658); there are many Sukesada trough the shinto era until Shinshinto. In shinshinto we found another descendant of Sukesada, Sukenaga who was a great smith.

hi, I personally think that one of the best book for a beginner is the book written by Kanzan Sato Sensei - The Japanese Sword "a compréhensive guide".

Hi, A photo is often better than a long speech, Matsukawa hada is more strong and chikei are numerous and vigorous and no masame. I've a Yamato tegai blade, look at it, To my eyes it is more similar than Mastukawa hada (but i need perhaps new glasses :D ).

Darcy, Sorry for my bad explanation :? when i said "this one looks more like shinto yamato tegai or Ogasawara" i wanted to talk about the picture that b.hennick had posted not about Norishige hada. About gassan ayasugi hada, a nice photo :

Hi, No, there is no masame in the matsukawa-hada, this one looks more like shinto yamato tegai or Ogasawara.

Hi, I say nothing.... they say. you must write to them and say "sorry but you are wrong". An other exemple. http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_147.htm Read also the connoisseur's book of Japanese swords (Page 33) and Comments on the Construction of Japanese Swords by Harvey Stearn, BUSHIDO: An International Journal of Japanese Arms, Vol 2, No. 3, January 1981. You can believe what you want, it's not my problem.